At its core, a kitchen display system (KDS) device is like a kitchen printer: it relies on the values that you define for your menu items and modifiers. To help label and route orders, the KDS device adds information about other aspects of the operation: your prep stations, expediter seats, service areas, dining options, and so on. As a result, the way that you configure these operations can affect the way the KDS device presents order information.

While both the KDS device and your kitchen printers present order information, the KDS offers additional features that you might find valuable, such as text messaging on fulfillment, and preference settings for interacting with the KDS device.

In the Toast platform, you set configuration options for your restaurant with Toast Web, and you also configure individual devices to display orders. This diagram shows a simplified example of settings that you configure using Toast Web and on specific devices.

The topics in this section provide methods to help you configure your restaurant and individual KDS devices, troubleshoot configuration problems, verify and update settings, and take advantage of features that can help your employees do their work efficiently and effectively.